1. Statement of the Technical Field
The present invention relates to message security and more particularly to securing electronic messages through wireless device based authentication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic messaging, and in particular, the use of electronic mail (e-mail) and instant messengers (IM), continues to grow at an astounding rate. In consequence, it appears that electronic messaging, including e-mail and IM, has become a critical mode of interpersonal communications rivaled only by wireless communications. Nevertheless, every transmitted message can result in an unintentional breach of security. In particular, when a party other than the intended recipient of the message accesses the message, the intent of a secure transaction will have been lost.
Technologies have been implemented in recent years to remediate some of the actual and perceived risks associated with electronic messaging. In particular, asymmetrical encryption algorithms have been applied to ensure not only that only a key-bearing recipient can access encrypted content, but also that only the intended recipient who bears the key can access the encrypted content. Still, as has become well-known in the field of short and long-range wireless communications, wireless transmissions are inherently susceptible to unauthorized capturing by third party receivers.
In particular, line-of-sight communications protocols have always been susceptible both to intentional and inadvertent breaches of communications security. Similarly, both proposed and maturing short-range wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other IEEE 802.11 variants, are vulnerable to the capturing of sensitive data by unauthorized users. Wi-Fi technologies in particular have become a cause for concern in the corporate environment and, in consequence, a feverish pace of urgent development has produced several technological stop-gap measures which directly address security in Wi-Fi networks. Still, no one stop-gap measure has proven to be an effective measure for secured messaging.
Notwithstanding the security risks of wireless messaging, the proliferation of wireless, pervasive devices as a means for interpersonal communications is unprecedented. Many advantages associated with the use of wireless, pervasive devices in computing applications remain wholly absent from conventional computing. For instance, whereas fixed location computing ordinarily associated with the conventional computing in itself provides no added dimension, wireless, pervasive computing adds a personal dimension to computing.
Specifically, wireless, pervasive computing devices like cellular telephones and personal digital assistants are seldom associated with a fixed location. Rather, wireless, pervasive computing devices, more often than not, are closely associated with the locale of the user. Still, few emerging technologies appreciate the personal dimension of wireless, pervasive computing. More importantly, no emerging technologies capitalize upon the personal dimension of wireless, pervasive computing in the context of secure messaging.